#Exhibit of the Month

The ceramic vessel set was discovered accidentally in October 2025 in the southwestern part of the village of Bălceana, Hâncești District, approximately 1.2 km from the Lăpușnița River. The archaeological materials were recovered by the National Archaeological Agency.

The ceramic assemblage consists of a large storage vessel (pithos) with a capacity of 20 litres (h = 39.2 cm; d = 35.0 cm), decorated with a raised band below the rim; a medium-sized bowl with a capacity of 2.5 litres (h = 16.9 cm; d = 23.2 cm); a medium-sized jug with a capacity of 0.6 litres (h = 12.0 cm; d = 13.4 cm); and the base of a jar-shaped vessel.

The coarse handmade pottery was produced using the coil-building technique, by stacking and shaping coils of clay prepared from a paste tempered with crushed fired clay (grog) and sand. The vessel surfaces are uneven and covered with a yellowish-red slip featuring black patches, while the core of the vessel walls is black in colour.

The three vessels preserved intact display well-defined biconical shapes, with their maximum diameter at the middle of the body and straight or slightly oblique rims with rounded edges. Pottery of this type is characteristic of the Early Medieval cultural area of the northern and northwestern Black Sea region, dating from the 5th to the 7th centuries. East of the Dniester River, on the territory of present-day Ukraine, analogous pottery is found in Penkovka-type settlements, while in the Carpathian-Dniester region it is characteristic of settlements belonging to the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca cultural group.

Within the Prut-Dniester region, coarse biconical pottery is generally represented by fragments and only relatively rarely by complete vessels, such as those discovered at Hansca, Dănceni, Recea, Seliște, Păhărniceni, and other sites. This type of pottery constituted an indispensable component of the local material culture during the 5th-7th centuries. In this context, the discovery at Bălceana of an almost intact set of coarse biconical vessels represents a relatively rare find of considerable scientific importance.

According to certain hypotheses, the tradition of coarse biconical pottery dating to the 5th-7th centuries originated in the North Pontic region. At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that these biconical ceramic vessels were the result of contemporary ethnocultural interactions, developing simultaneously across the vast territory extending from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dnieper River and the Seversky Donets.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

"A history of the oldest inhabited city in Romania - Constanța"

May 18 – June 30, 2024

The Constanța National History and Archeology Museum, in partnership with the National History Museum of Moldova in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, organizes on Saturday, May 18, 2024, 1:00 p.m., at the headquarters of the National History Museum of Moldova, the opening of the temporary exhibition: A history of the oldest inhabited city in Romania - Constanța.

The cultural event was prepared by the specialists of the Constanța National History and Archeology Museum: Dr. Sorin Marcel Colesniuc, Dr. Aurel Mototolea, Dr. Tiberiu Potârniche, Dr. Delia Cornea, Dr. Cristian Cealera, Dr. Lavinia Dumitrașcu and Eng. Ada Marcu, in collaboration with the specialists of the National History Museum of Moldova: dr.hab. Eugen Sava and Dr. Livia Ermurachi.

As the title suggests, the temporary exhibition A history of the oldest inhabited city in Romania - Constanta presents, on 30 panels, the history of the city of Constanta, from its foundation to the present day. The panels were organized as follows: In the beginning was the legend; Greek colonization and the Tomis war; The beginnings of Roman rule; The exile of the poet Publius Ovidius Naso to Tomis; Amphitheater, wrestling and gladiators at Tomis; Tomis - the capital of the province of Scythia Minor; The emergence and development of Christianity in the light of archaeological evidence; From Tomi to Constantiana; Küstenge - Constanta. 1800 - 1870; Ottoman Constanta. Religious architecture - mosques and windows; Ottoman Constanta. Secular architecture - Casa Beiului; Constance English; The port in the life of the city - Antiquity; The port in the life of the city - the Ottoman period; The port in the life of the city - innovation and modernity; Royal Constance (2 panels); The city of Constanța and the people of Constanta in the First World War; The general plan of the city of Constanța in the interwar period; Walking through interwar Constanța (3 panels); Constanța - city beaches; Personalities of Constanta; Constanța under the bombings of the Second World War; Constanța - aspects of the urban development in the period 1948 - 1989; The Constanta Museum - emblematic institution of our city; The treasury of sculptures from Tomis; From the collections of the Constanta museum (2 panels).

On behalf of the Museum of National History and Archeology Constanta, scientific researcher Dr. Sorin Marcel Colesniuc will be present at the opening of the temporary exhibition in Chisinau, who will present the work of the team of specialists of the Constanta museum, as well as the history of the city of Constanta from Antiquity to Contemporary .

#Exhibit of the Month

Ceramic Vessel Set from Bălceana-Hâncești (5th–7th Centuries)

"A history of the oldest inhabited city in Romania - Constanța"

May 18 – June 30, 2024

#Exhibit of the Month